Tilting chair mounting



w. F. HE ZROLD TILTING CHAIR MOUNTING 'May" 12, 1942.

Filed June 15, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l Niay 1942. w. F. HEROLD 2,283,062

TIL'II NG CHAIR MOUNTING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 15, 1939 PatentedMay 12, 1942 greats;

TILTING CHAIR MOUNTING Walter F. Herold, Bridgeport, Conn, assignor toThe Bassick Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of ConnecticutApplication June 15, 1939, Serial No. 279,318

16 Claims.

This invention relates to tilting chair mountings such as employed incflice chairs, for example.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a mounting thatoperates very quietly, and in which, nevertheless, the construction isvery simple and inexpensive.

It is also a purpose of my invention to furnish a tilting mechanismrequiring a minimum amount of lubrication for silent operation, and inwhich the tension of the resilient means is under eifective and nicecontrol, and in which also there are-relatively few parts, which parts,moreover, are easy to assemble and easy of access when in the assembledposition.

It is also aimed to provide a novel and improved resilient controlclevice for tiling chairs, operating with a minimum of metal-to-metalcontact.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a tilting chair mounting embodying myinvention, the chair seat being shown in the normal or untiltedposition;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the tilting mechanism shown in Fig. 1, thechair seat being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating the positions ofthe parts when the chair is tilted to a substantial degree;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 'Y-and 8 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5, illustrating amodified form, and

Fig. 9 is a somewhat diagrammatic longitudinal sectional view of afurther modified form of mounting.-

In the drawings, a portion of the supporting base member of the chair isshown at In, and a portion of the chair seat is shown at H. Theparticular mounting shown for purposes of illustration is of the swiveltype, and the screwthreaded spindle !2 screws up and down in the usualmanner in the base 10, the vertical adjustment being accomplished bymeans such as a nut IS. The chair seat has on its under side the usualspider arms 14 fastened to the seat by screws 55. Extending acrossbetweeen the spider arms 14 and interconnecting them is a spanner-memberor spider horn l6, hereinafter more particularly described. Thisparticular chair mounting is of the low-fulcrum type, and the member [6is fulcrumed at its lower part by means of a cross-pin or axle-l1 to abody member 18, more particularly described hereinafter, said member l8being rigidly fixed tothe spindle l2, and constituting the fixed orstationary element of the pivotal (in this case hinged) joint betweenthe spindle on the one hand and the spider arms on the other hand. Thispivotal joint is under the control of a resilient control devicecomprising a bolt or tie rod member I9 having mounted thereon resilientmembers 20, as hereinafter more particularly described.

Referring now .to the details of the mechanism, it will be noted thatthe fixed frame or body !8 is of composite construction, including anelement 2| and an element 22. The element 2| is of U shape, and has inits lower connecting portion an opening 23 in which a portion of spindleI2, somewhat below the upper extremity of said spindle, isrigidly fixedin any appropriate manner. shaped member fitted within member 2| andriveted thereto by rivets 24, with the lower connecting portion 25 ofmember 22 spaced upwardly from the lower connecting portion of member2|. The upper extremity of spindle I2 is reduced and shouldered so as toprovide a portion 26 headed over and tightly clenched in an opening 21in the lower connecting portion of member 22. By this construction thecomposite element l8 comprising the parts 2! and 22 is very rigidlysecured to the upper end of spindle i2 so as to.

be in fixed or stationary relation wtih respect thereto.

The spider horn or spanner [6, previously referred to, is of U shape soas to provide side walls 28, and a connecting rear wall 28 At theirupper portions the side walls 28 are rigidly fixed to the spider arms[4, as by means of the rivets 29 and 39, of which two are employed inconnection with each side wall or flange of the spanner member. Rivets39 are offset upwardly to a certain extent from rivets 29. The hinge pinor axle ll, previously referred to, passes through the walls 28 adjacenttheir front lower corners, and from these lower corners the walls 28slope upwardly and rearwardly at their lower edges, as shown at 3i. Thehinge pin I! passes through the walls 28 andthrough the side walls ofmember 2 I, and for a considerable portion of its length it is locatedin the space between the lower portions of members 2| and 22,respectively.

The U-shaped member 22 is provided at its forward portion with anintegral extension 32 The member'22 is a smaller U- bent upwardlytherefrom and forming a transverse wall closing in the space at thefront of the pivotal joint structure. By so closing in this space a wallis created that is approximately opposite the wall 28 and a somewhatbox-like structure is presented affording opposite relatively movablewalls for the reaction of the resilient members 29, as hereinafterdescribed.

For the purpose of providing a suitable stop mechanism to arrest thetilting movement at the proper points, I prefer to employ the rivets 29,previously mentioned, these rivets having protruding cylindrical heads29 at their inner ends, which heads are located within notches 33 formedin the upper ends of the side walls of member 2|. At one end of thetilting movement each rivet 29 is at one end of the notch in contactwith a portion 34 of member 2|, and at the other end of the movement therivet is in contact'with a portion 35 at the other end of the notch.

The resilient members 29, previously mentioned, mounted on the bolt orrod I9, are arranged respectively in front and at the rear of thebox-like joint structure, previously described, with one of saidresilient members located adjacent wall 28 to act thereon, and the othersimilarly located adjacent wall 32. The bolt I9 is approximatelyhorizontally arranged. The resilient members 29 may be formed as rubberblocks or as springs, but in the particular example illustrated, theyare shown as comprising cylindrical resilient rubber sleeves havingcentral openings or bores 28 through which the bolt I 9 passes for tyingtogether and controlling the operation of the resilient counterbalancingelements. In the example shown, the bolt I9 is provided at its rearextremity with a rounded head 36 having at the'under side thereof asquare portion 31 adapted to fit a square hole 38 in a washer 39 held inplace by head 36 against a retainer 49 in the form of a shallow metalcup encircling and receiving one end of the adjacent rubber cylinder 29.The square portion 31 engages a square hole M in this retainer, and itwill be understood that by the construction described neither the Washer39 nor the retainer 40 can turn relatively to the body of the bolt I9.At the opposite end of the same rubber block 29 is arrangeda similarretainer 42, and this retainer is abutted against the outer face of wall28 and is held in fixed relation thereto by means such as rivets 43.'The bolt I9 passes through the wall 28 and member '42, forwhich'purpose wall 28 is provided with a clearance slot 28', and member42 with a clearance slot 42 these slots being of such a size I thatthere is no interference with the swinging movement of the bolt I9hereinafter referred to. The resilient member at the front of the pivotjoint structure is mounted similarly to the rear resilient member,having rear and front retainers 44 and 45 of shallow cup shape similarto retainers and 42. The bolt I9 passes through wall 32 of the fixedjoint member in a notch 46 formed in Wall 32, and retainer 44, which isriveted to wall 32 by rivets 47. has a clearance slot 48 adjacent notch48. Retainer has a round hole 49 in which the threaded portion 50 ofbolt or tie rod I9 is located, and in front of retainer 45 a washer 5|is placed around the threaded portion 50, Engaging the threaded portion59 of the bolt are interior threads 52 in a shank 53 of a nut member 54having a head 55 of convenient shape for turning by the hand.

It will be understood that by screwing up on the nut 54, which isconveniently located beretainers such as 42 and 44,

degree to provide the desired resistance to the tilting movement of thechair seat when the latter is occupied. When the chair is in theuntilted or normal position the stops 29 are in contact with theportions 34. When the chair seat is occupied and the same tiltedrearwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, the movable member 28 is swungrearwardly so as to exert compressive force on the rear resilient member20 from the front of said member, moving said member rearwardly, and asthe rear portion of said member is moved in a rearward direction, thebolt I9 is pulled in a rearward direction. The result of this rearwardpull on the bolt is to carry nut 54, washer 5|, and retainer 45 in arearward direction, thereby exerting compressive force on the frontmember 29 from the front thereof, so as to exert compressive force onsaid member 20 between its retainers 45 and 44. Thus it will beunderstood that the member l9 ties the two resilient elements together,so that compression exerted upon one will be transmitted to the otherthrough the endwise moving tie rod.

These compressive effects upon the rubber sleeves or blocks are, in ageneral sense, axially directed, inasmuch as the rubber sleeves areapproximately horizontally alined for tying toether in a substantiallyhorizontal direction by their connecting or tying-member, but it will beunderstood that in moving from the position shown in Fig. 4 to theposition shown in Fig. 5, for example, a certain relative displacementof the respective members 20 occurs, and that the member I9 is alsorelatively displaced. Such movements cause a certain amount of twistingand distortion of the rubber sleeves, as well as longitudinalcompression, and this is indicated to an extent in Fig. 5.

It will be noted that the bores or holes in the rubber sleeves are ofappreciably larger diameter than the bolt I9, and that in the tilting ofthe chair seat the tie member or bolt will float freely in swinging andtranslatory movement without contacting the members of the pivot joint.The only contacts of bolt I9 with metal are those which the bolt haswith the retaining or head structures at the rear face of the rearrubber sleeve, and at the front face of the front rubber sleeve, and itis to be borne in mind that these retainer or head structures aresupported in a cushioned and therefore silently working manner by therubber sleeves. The only part of the mechanism which may requirelubrication (at rather long intervals) is the fulcrum connectionprovided by the pin I1 or its equivalent. It is not necessary tolubricate the resilient counterbalancing means having the free-floatingconnecting member on account of the entire absence of .metal-to-metalcontacts capable of creating squeaks or other noises.

In Figs. '7 and 8 is shown a form which is the same as that abovedescribed except for the means for positioning the inner portions of therubbers 29. In this case, instead of using shallow I employ the members42 and 44. These, as before, are fixed to The handand carried by thewalls 28 and 32 respectively, but they are constituted by deepercup-like members surrounding a greater portion of the periphery of therubber sleeve. Moreover, these cups are of outwardly sloping or flaringshape and so arranged that initially the rubber members contactsubstantially their bottoms only, as

shown in Fig. '7, there being a tapered space between the periphery ofeach sleeve and the surrounding cupped'or bell-shaped member.However,'when the chair is tilted, the action is as shown in Fig, 8, therubber being forced out into the tapered or wedge-shaped space,particularly at the upper part of the rubber sleeve, and only a portion(in this instance slightly more than one-half of the length) of therubber mass being free to expand or bulge beyond the mouth of the cup.In this manner the action of the rubber body is very eifectivelycontrolled for the purposes in view. One of the principal advantages ofthis sloping or conical cup wall formation is that there is greatercontrol of the compression, and another advantage arises from'thecentering effect of the cup, which tends to center and hold the rubberbody in proper position with respect to the inner member of the pivotalstructure with which it reacts to produce the counterbalancing effect.

In practice I deem it preferable to give the mouth or rim portion of thecup a slight outward curve, as indicated at 42* and 44 In Fig. 9 I haveshown in a somewhat diagrammatic manner a modified form of my tiltingmounting in which the chair has a so-called high fulcrum. member of thepivot joint is shown at 56, and this member is pivoted at 5'!(approximately at the same elevation as the spider arms 58) to aswinging member 59 rigid with the spider arms having a front wall Gilagainst which front resilient member BI is positioned. Rear resilientmember 52 is positioned adjacent a fixed wall 63 rigid with thestationary member 56. Spindle 64 passes through a slot 85 in wall 80 andthrough a slot 63 in wall 63. When the chair is tilted backwardly, wall56 is swung forwardly to compress front rubber member 6i, and throughthe pull on the spindle 64 the rear rubber member 62 is compressed bypressure exerted on its rear portion. also the pivot joint adapted toconnect the chair seat to the supporting post is characterized by agenerally box-like structure presenting at one end a transverseforwardly and rearwardly swinging wall, and at the opposite end atransverse fixed wall, these walls being resiliently tied together by adevice including a resilient member located behind and acting againstthe rear wall, and a resilient member located in front of and actingagainst the front wall, said resilient members being mounted tandemwiseon a common spindle or tie rod passing through the'fro-nt and rear wallsof the joint structure and arranged to transmit compressive action fromone resilient member to the other so that they are caused to operatesimultaneously. In this manner a very strong and durable structure isprovided which is not likely to get out of order, and which is providedwith ample counterbalancing means for the chair, which means is under anice control. I have already referred to the noiselessness of theoperation, and it will be apparent that the construction is such thatthe parts are relatively few in number and of simple structure, andcapable of ready assemblage and disassemblage.

In this case the fixed or stationary It will be noted that in thisinstance f The compression rubbers are especially desirable on accountof their simple character and noiseless operation, and also on accountof their long service. However, as indicated above, coiled springs canbe substituted if desired.

In one aspect of my invention the wall members above referred to,against which the rubber members are positioned, one in front of onewall member and the other at the rear of the other wall member, may beconsidered as interpivoted leaves spaced apart in a forward and rearwarddirection, and under the control of a resiliently acting device whichties them together, said device comprising a tie rod passing throughclearance openings in said leaves and having a portion disposed in thespace between the leaves, such tie rod with its accessories providing acon-- necting means between the resilient members whereby on backwardtilt of the chair seat both of said resilient members are compressed, inwhich operation the tie rod proper is subjected to tension,

It will be understood that I have illustrated only three forms which myinvention may assume, and that it is capable of many and variousembodiments and modifications and changes in the detail structurewithout departure from the principles involved or from the scope of theappended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a tilting chair mounting, a pair of spider arms, a spannercomprising a U-shaped member having side walls attached to therespective spider arms, the attachment being effected at least in partby rivets having inwardly disposed heads, a relatively fixed member towhich said spanner has pivotal relation adjacent the lower end of thespanner, said fixed member having side walls with notches'at the upperparts thereof in which the protruding heads of said rivets operate inorder to act as stops, and resilient means resisting tilting of thespanner and spider arms.

2. In a tilting chair mounting, rubber cylinders substantially in axialalinement, a two-part pivotal structure between the cylinders, a tiemember passing through the pivotal structure and through bores of thecylinders, and retainers for the inner ends of the cylinders carried bythe respective parts of the pivotal structure.

3. In a tilting chair mounting, rubber cylinders substantially in axialalinement, a two-part pivotal structure between the cylinders, a tiemember passing through the pivotal structure and through bores of thecylinders, and retainers for the inner ends of the cylinders carried bythe respective parts of the pivotal structure, said retainers beingrelatively deep cups having substantially conical walls.

4. In a tilting chair mounting, two' relatively swingable members, oneadapted for securement to a chair seat and the other for securement to asupporting post, said members having leaf portions arranged one in frontof the other, and a cushioning and tensioning device arranged to confinethe leaf portions from the outside for resisting tilting, said devicecomprising a floating tie rod extending between and beyond said leafportions; and rubber cylinders'held on said tie rod one in front of thefront leaf portion and the other at the rear of the other leaf portion,said cylinders mounting said rod for swinging and endwise movements.

5. In a chair iron structure, a post-supported a lhorizontalaxissaidspanner member having a clearance'opening therein and said frame havinga partspaced somewhat forwardly-of that part of the spanner memberhaving the clearance opening and itself provided with a clearanceopening in a portion of said frame acting as a resilient elementsupporting head, a rod passing freely through said clearance openingsand having a substantial portion of its length disposed'at the :outer'orremote side of said head, a resilient element disposed about and held onsaid rod at the last named'portion thereof, said rod extending at .theother end beyond the'clearanceopening portion of the spanner member, andmeans for swinging'ly' mounting the lastnamed end .of the rod relativelyto the spanner member comprising a rubber member mounted on the rod, and:inner and outer retainers for said rubber member surrounding the rod.

6. In a tilting chair mounting, rubber cylinders substantially in axialalinement, a two-part pivotal structure between the cylinders, a tiemember passing through the pivotal structure and through bores ofthecylinders, retainers for the inner ends of the cylinders carried bythe re- .spective parts of the pivotal structure, and retainerstfor theouter ends of the cylinders carried by the tiemember.

'7. In a chair iron structure, a post-connected frame having asubstantially upright part, a I

chair-seat-supporting spanner member hinged to said frame for tiltingmovement and having a substantially upright part facing that of theframe, a substantially horizontal rod passing with clearance throughsaid substantially upright parts and having end portions extendingbeyond them, resilient seat-cushioning members surrounding said endportions, and elements on the end portions of the rod holding therespective resilient members in position against the respective membersof the frame-spanner structure with the rod under tension and tiltablyand resiliently held at one end from the spanner member for freeswinging and translating movements, the rearward tilting of the chairseat causing a pull on the rod through the resilient member adjacent thespanner which pull acts to compress the other resilient member.

8. A chair iron structure such as set forth in claim 7 in which theresilient member adjacent the spanner member is a rubber cylinder, andin which the spanner member carries a cup-shaped retainer for saidcylinder.

9. A chair iron structure such as set forth in claim 7 in which bothresilient members are constituted by rubber cylinders, the frame havinga cup-shaped retainer receiving one end of one cylinder and the spannermember having a cupshaped retainer receiving a portion of the othercylinder.

10. In a chair iron structure, a frame, a chairseat-supporting spannermember having a substantially forwardly and rearwardly facing leafportion with a clearance opening, said frame and spanner member hingedtogether for tilting movement of said spanner member, a substantiallyhorizontal rod extending through said clearance opening and through afacing rodclearing portion of the frame and having end portions locatedrespectively beyond the frame and spanner member, resilientseat-cushioning members disposed around said end portions, and elementson the end portions of the rod holdin the respective resilient membersin position against the respective members of the framespanner structurewith the rod under tension :and tiltably and resiliently held at one endfrom the spanner'member for free swinging and translating movements.

11. In a tilting chair mounting, axially compressible rubber cylindersin substantially horizontal axial alinement and spaced apart, apivotal-structure between the cylinders having parts attachedrespectively to a chair seat and to a base and pivoting on an axissubstantially transverse to the cylinders, and a tie member passingthrough the pivotal structure and through bores of the cylinders andtensioned by the cylinders and serving'to maintain compression of thecylinders, said pivotal structure having its chair-seatattached partmovable in a generally rearward direction to increase the tension andbeing reversely movable to decrease the tension.

12. In a tilting chair mounting, chair-seatattached spider arms, aspanner of substantially U shape set in between said spider arms andhaving an open top and a rearwardly disposed transverse wall, acomposite frame member comprising interconnected upper and lowerU-shaped elements arranged in the space between the side walls of saidspanner and pivoted to said spanner, said composite member including atransverse substantially upright wall on one of said elements spacedforwardly from and facing said firstnamed transverse wall, and acushioning and tensioning device for the chair seat arranged to confinesaid transverse walls from the outside for resisting tilting of thechair seat, said device comprising a floating tie rod extending betweenand beyond said transverse walls, and elastic rubber cylinders on saidtie rod one in front of one of said walls and the other at the rear ofthe other wall, said cylinders mounting said rod for swinging andendwise movements.

13. In a tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame memberhaving an upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attachedspanner member hinged to said frame member for tilting movement andhaving an upwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said firstleaf portion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward directionthrough clearance openings in the respective leaf portions, said tie rodbeing continued forwardly substantially beyond the first leaf portion,an elastic rubber compression member surrounding the rod in front of thefirst leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod betweenwhich and thefirst leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to beregulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting fromthe spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted forfree swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearwardmovement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubbermember, and means associated with said first-named leaf portion forcontrolling the lateral expansion of a portion of said rubber member.14. In a tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame memberhaving an upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attachedspanner member hinged to said frame member for tilting movement andhaving an upwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said firstleaf portion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward directionthrough clearance openings in member surrounding the rod in front of thefirst leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod betweenwhich and the first leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to beregulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting fromthe spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted forfree swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearwardmovement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubbermember, and members surrounding the tie rod adjacent the front and rearends of the rubber member which restrict the expansion of said rub-. bermember at the front and rear.

15. In a tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame memberhaving an upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attachedspanner member hinged to said frame member for tilting movement andhaving an upwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said firstleaf portion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward directionthrough clearance openings in the respective leaf portions, said tie rodbeing continued forwardly substantially beyond the first leaf portion,an elastic rubber compression member surrounding the rod in front ofthefirst leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod betweenwhich and the first leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to beregulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting fromthe spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted forfree swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearwardmovement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubbermember, and members surrounding the tie rod adjacent the front and rearends of the rubher member which restrict the expansion of said rubbermember at the front and rear, the rubber member being confined to agreater extent at the rear end than at the front end.

16. Ina tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame member havingan upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attached spannermember hinged to said frame member for tilting movement and having anupwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said first leafportion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward direction throughclearance openings in the respective leaf portions, said tie rod beingcontinued forwardly substantially beyond the first leaf portion, anelastic rubber compression member surrounding the rod in front of thefirst leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod betweenwhich and the first leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to beregulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting fromthe spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted forfree swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearwardmovement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubbermember, and members surrounding the tie rod adjacent the front and rearends of the rub ber member which restrict the expansion of said rubbermember at the front and rear, the rubber member being confined to agreater extent at the rear end than at the front end, and therestricting member at the rear end of the rubber member beingconstituted by a flange projecting forwardly from the adjacent leafportion and having an outwardly flared rim.

WALTER F. HEROLD.

